


Northern Delights

by lomelinde



Category: due South
Genre: Fanart, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Northern Lights, Quest, post-cotw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:34:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29640303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lomelinde/pseuds/lomelinde
Summary: Ray sees Northern Lights for the first time
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Comments: 9
Kudos: 27





	Northern Delights

“Fraser. Fraser, wake up!”

Ray is shaking my shoulder, and I’m suddenly wide awake, adrenaline rushing through my veins. “What? What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Buddy I’ve seen logs sleep lighter than you. Come on, you’ve got to see this.”

I rub my eyes and try to get my bearings. There’s no emergency, Ray seems to be fine, neither ill nor unexpectedly injured. But something is off – if there’s one thing I’ve learned on our month-long adventure it is that mornings without daylight and/or coffee and a conscious Ray Kowalski are mutually exclusive.

It’s still hours before dawn, but the walls of the tent are glowing faintly, and I can see a fully clothed Ray rummaging around for his parka and boots. “Why are you up?” I ask, for a lack of anything better to say.

More fumbling. “I woke up with this massive cramp, and the walls were glowing like crazy. So I’m thinking – alien invasion. I go look outside, and turns out, no Close Encounter after all, but … well, come see for yourself.” With that Ray zips up his parka, throws the hood over his head and scrambles out of the tent.

“Ray. Ray. Ray! You can’t go out without - oh for the love of …” I thrust my sleeping bag aside, exasperation getting the better of me. I put on my clothes and coat and hastily scan the tent floor for Ray’s hat (which he left without, the crazy man) and mine, but they’re nowhere to be found. I head out, ready to call after Ray, but what I see takes my breath away.

Ray’s silhouette is just a few feet away, and he’s surrounded by a sky lit up with the most beautiful aurora I have seen since I was a little child. Swirls of bright green and faint blue cut across the dark winter sky, gently swaying.

I close the tent flap behind me and walk up to join Ray. He is silent and completely still, and that in itself is a site to behold. He is staring at the sky with his head tilted back, his eyes wide and a look of sheer wonder on his face. My heart skips a beat. In that moment I cannot say what is more beautiful, the wonder of nature above us or my dear friend standing next to me.

“It’s like they’re dancing.” Ray’s voice is faint, almost whisper. I lean in close to hear. “The lights,” he adds. “I never realized … I mean I’ve seen pictures, but … I didn’t know they moved. Like this.”

I have to swallow a sudden lump in my throat. The first time I saw the Northern Lights, that’s one of the few clear memories I have of my mother. I can feel her warm arms around me as she lifted me up to gaze at the shifting waves of color above us. I can’t recall her voice, but I imagine her telling me how special that night was, how you never knew when the lights would appear, how it was a great gift.

“Fraser,…” I look up, pulled back to the present by Ray, now standing right in front of me. He’s obviously trying to say something, but he opens his mouth and no words come out. And then he suddenly takes hold of my coat, pulls me in, and kisses me. Soft and gentle, cold lips closed against mine. He pulls back slowly, and small smile creeps across his face. He turns back for one last look at the sky and then does a mad dash back to the tent. I hear his muffled voice as he climbs inside. “These lights are pretty and all but it is still FUCKING FREEZING.”

I have to laugh in spite of myself as I follow him into the tent. Tonight might turn out to be a very special night indeed.


End file.
